Unfiltered Planted Tank

[penguinpimp1990]

I read online that someone had a 60 gallon heavily planted tank, pressurized c02, great plant subtrate, and good lighting. He had some glass catfish, and 2 powerheads, and no filter! He evidently had great success, no ammonia, or nitrites readings. Has anyone tried this method? And since im soon going to upgrade my 40 gallon mangrove tank to a 100 gallon ish tank, do you think the mangroves will act as the filters if i leave some unpotted? (I hate internal filters!) and since i know their roots grow hella long and stuff do you think that an occassional trimming of the roots will hurt the mangorves? thanks

 

[soritan]

I've heard of and read about these tanks, they seem like they'd require a whole lot of work to set up, initially, as well as money, but I bet they'd be a whole lot easier to keep, once you're done. And lest we forget -- I bet they'd look massively cool.

I've no experience with mangroves, I know some plants are extremely sensitive to root damange, while others don't mind a bit of root pruning.

 

[pseud]

I think if you stock lightly you could get away with it. I'd be nervous about it though...

 

[penguinpimp1990]

i think ill test the filtering ability of the mangroves, ill add some ammonia and stuff and test the water fequently. If they do a good job ill probally use them as the main "filter" and buy a internal filter for some support. and a very low gph powerhead for some surface agitation

also does anyone have any good links on the different species of mangorves and their care requirements? i havent done a good job researching the mangroves i have now but they seem to be doing excellent. i keep them potted with a mix of water at 1.010 sg, sand, and some eco-complete plant subtrate. They get a full spectrum 40 watts of light, and occassionally i put a drop of ammonia in the pot. (dont know if that does anything good but someone said that they grow better cause in their nature environment they suck up the ammonia like aquatic plants do) i just bought them at a garden center for like 4 bucks per plant a siliconed the holes in the pots to keep the water in.

 

[zig]

Heavily planted with low bio load and more frequent water changes it can be done, but i think from the point of view of a more healthy tank, filtration will allways win out IMO.

 

[Walt]

ya.. i agree with zig...
Filtration is so easy, and the results are so obvious, ill always filter
Besides, i like a fair amount of fish in my tank B)

 

[penguinpimp1990]

ill think ive changed my mind again , i leave probally 2 mangroves unplanted and do the filtering with some big internals. Will occassional trimming of the roots hurt the mangroves? and any links? thanks

 

[penguinpimp1990]

and what internal filter would youd reccomend? i use whisper internals and there ok but i want to try something else. whats the best internal for biological filtration? i like the looks of the aquaball ones

 

[penguinpimp1990]

bump! sorry its sounds like im impatient but i cant find anything on google

 

[delryn]

All my tanks over the last few years have been 'filterless' using only powerheads and a small piece of foam to cover the intake - usually cut from an aquaclear replacement filter

While I've has great success doing it, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone that doesn't have time dedicated to their tank every week
or anyone that doesn't want a large clean up crew (snails/shrimp) in their tank
That said
I find the ability to hide a couple powerhead in the centre of my tank, gives me a 360 degree view, without having to plumb.
I also have zero noise level - which is a major plus.

Best of luck to you anyway you go.
Delryn

p.s. found vast info on care of mangroves in the aquarium on google

 

[Discomafia]

When I was on holiday during the summer, I kept my lights on so that my plants wouldn't die, and I didn't on my filter because I sold all my fish before I left. Tank was heavily planted and I had 1.8wpg. My roomate helped me top up the tank with water once every month.

I came back to a jungle full of plants and a lot of algae. And I found a pair of WCMMs in there too, not sure where they came from, and what they lived off during those 4 months. I sold a school of WCMMs before I left, and the ones I saw must have been the fry or something that I didn't notice before I left. Goes to show it can be done if your tank is heavily planted and very lightly stocked.

A lot of stem plants which would absorb all the nutrients would be good, as would any other fast growing plants.

As for internal filters, I've always been a fan of the Fluvals, mainly because of their design. I've heard good things about the Aquaball, and I personally recommend the Stingray Elite series, which looks really neat, has an adjustable output nozzle, and is dead silentalthough I highly doubt they make them for 100 gallons. Going with a few high rated powerheads would be what I'd do in this instance.

HTH.

 

[penguinpimp1990]

p.s. found vast info on care of mangroves in the aquarium on google

ive found alot of info on mangroves too, just not the info im looking for. and ive made my own filter design for this tak, check it out in the hardware section